MADIKERI: In a major reshuffle among the top brass of the Indian army, Lieutenant General Pattacheruvanda C Thimayya will take over as the 21st General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Army Training Command (ARTRAC) at Shimla from November 1, 2018. The incumbent Lieutenant General M M Naravane has been appointed the Eastern Army Commander at Kolkata.

A Mechanised Infantry Officer, commissioned in 1981, Thimayya has varied experiences at the Western and Eastern fronts. Besides commanding a Mechanised Infantry Brigade, he has commanded a strike RAPID division and has held important staff appointments at Integrated HQ of MoD (Army). Thimayya has also been a military observer with UN mission (Angola) and Defence Attache in Bangladesh. In 2016, he took over the command of Chetak Corps from Lieutenant General Ashwani Kumar.

Hailing from Kodagu, Thimayya is the son of Pattacheruvanda Chengappa and Gowru. He studied at Sainik School in Bhubaneshwar and later at National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla, Pune and Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun.

He is married to Neena Thimayya and has two sons — Arjun who is serving the Indian Navy and Akshay, who is pursuing his Mass Communication studies.

Kelapanda Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar, the two 22-year-olds from Chennai, endured a roller-coaster ride to finish with bronze in the men’s 49er sailing event at the recently concluded Asian Games.

In an email interview with Kodagu Connect, Kelapanda Ganapathy, with Kodagu roots, speaks about his entry into sailing and future plans.

How did you first get involved with sailing?
I first started sailing when I was around six years old. One of my classmates’ dad took some of our classmates on a sailing trip and I just loved the experience. There has been no looking back for the last 16 years. It has been a long journey but it’s just the beginning.

How did it feel winning bronze medal for India at Asian Games?
It was one of the proudest moments of my life. Only regret was being not able to win the gold because we couldn’t execute some of our plans as we had planned before the race.

How did you train and prepare for Asian Games?
A year back I had a shoulder surgery, so I had only six months to prepare for the Asian Games. We spent a lot of time training in Europe. I would especially like to mention our coaches Bunny Warren, Jyrki Jarvi, Alain and Champy who were of great support, and special thanks to Jonas Warrer who was with us at the Asian Games. We couldn’t have achieved anything without these amazing people.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Maletira Subbaiah became the first Kodava to get elected to Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) from ward no. 20 (Vijayanagar).

BJP emerged victorious on 22 of the 65 seats at MCC, followed by the Congress which won 19. The JD(S) stood third with 17 of its candidates winning. 5 Independents and 1 from the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) also won.

When Subedar Major Kuttanda Bopanna watched the news of massive landslides in Kodagu, he was shaken by the scale of tragedy his own people were going through. Without wasting a minute, he applied for 15 days leave from work and arrived in Kodagu on August 20.

Once he arrived, he didn’t look back. Subedar Major Kuttanda Bopanna of 28 Karnataka Battalion NCC, Hubballi, plunged himself in multiple heroic rescue attempts in flood-affected areas near Makkandur. This despite his house near Hattihole being damaged and his wife’s house being razed in landslides in Kaloor. Setting aside personal setbacks, he continued to assist the Army team in rescue missions.

Many stories of his resolve and bravery abound during the rescue. A sad moment for him was when with his bare hands (no gloves and masks) he had to pull out the mortal remains of a deceased from underneath a slushy patch and hand over the body to the family for final rites.

Now, that the rescue mission is done, Bopanna wants to repair his house at Hattihole and get back to work. “It gave me immense satisfaction to help the people of my homeland when they were in trouble and I consider this holiday as a service to my homeland,” he says.